Reclaim, Refurbish and optimize, Redistribute

Since 2001, 3R computers has reclaimed, refurbished (optimized) and redistributed over 40 computers. We obtained these computers from companies and individuals who felt they were no longer powerful enough to support their perceived needs and were destined for landfills. With a little skill, patience and time, they still had tremendous potential and benefited the lives of many people.

We recently provided 12 computers to Port Credit Secondary School, Home of Peel Region's specialized Science and Technology program. A significant number of our refurbished systems have gone to children with learning disabilities through Leeds and Grenville Developmental services. Others have gone to under employed or unemployed individuals looking to upgrade their office skills. A few have gone to new Canadians or landed immigrants looking to join the workforce and contribute to our economy.

Reclaim

Benefits to our donors: Keeps computers out of landfills is good for the environment and saves money by not having to pay for disposal

Companies and businesses that have generously donated equipment include

IT Click.ca 905-274-8882. They sell and services
PC and MACs at good prices, specially for Mississauga. He also provides custom service for gaming consoles like the x-box and the PS2. The owner, is a very nice guy.

Refurbish and optimize

Security: Hard Drives frequently contain sensitive data. Many companies simply format hard drives before disposing of computes. Others do not even take this rudimentary step. To address privacy issues, all hard drives on our refurbished computers are wiped clean using "Department of Defence Grade" data destruction applications. We also delete partition tables and reformat the drives a minimum of three times. These practices ensure all refurbised systems are rebuilt from factory-clean blank hard drives.

Software: To minimize and eliminate incremental costs, we use primarily open source applications and freeware.

Licensing: When not using Linux or another free, open source operating system, we re-use the MS Windows ® license that came with the computer from the manufacturer. We use the same process should we be installing MS Office instead of ABI Word or Open Office, which are both free, full power alternative productivity suites.

Optimizations: Through judicious recycling, and by using the latest software and hardware optimizations techniques, we ensure computers are fine tuned and work at the peak of their potential efficiency. For example, by using this process, we have been able to successfully and satisfactorily install a Windows ® 98se-like Operating system with a full office suite on 66 MHz computers with 125MB hard drives. These machines function very well and perform their work as fast, if not faster than some Gigahertz computers running all the latest software and version of Microsoft Windows ®.

Redistribute

3R Computers redistributes computers through the following organizations and methods:

Port Credit Secondary School. PCSS is home to Peel Region's SciTech program, a science and technology specialization for secondary school students following either an academic or an applied stream. It provides the opportunity to explore and experience the world of science and technology through a "hands-on, minds-on" philosophy that promotes a more meaningful understanding of the world of science and technology

Destination Cafe, a fair trade coffee shop in Port credit, staffed by mental health consumer survivors. Sponsored by Supportive Housing In Peel (SHIP), this Internet cafe provides employment opportunities and gives the respect and dignity that is acquired by working and being part of a successful business. Our computers are distributed to staff to help build their PC skills and to assist them in their long term job searches.